This invention relates to a passenger seat with a privacy shell. The seat has particular application in aircraft seats such as in long haul, first class seating units which provide sufficient room between seat rows to permit the seat to recline into a substantially flat surface satisfactory for sleeping. In many situations a passenger may desire more privacy than is normally possible in the confined area of the passenger cabin. Unless the passenger is fortunate enough to be seated next to an empty seat, he or she is essentially trapped a few inches from another passenger for long periods of time. Even in situations where the adjacent passengers are traveling together, there may be times when either or both would feel more comfortable if there were a partition to screen the person from direct visual contact with the adjacent passenger.
In addition, a common problem experienced with xe2x80x9clie flatxe2x80x9d premium seating is that the person sitting aft of a fully reclined passenger is looking down at the top of the reclined passenger""s head. Particularly when the aft-seated passenger stands up to leave the seat, he or she is looking almost straight down on the reclined passenger, and this is often perceived as a significant intrusion on the reclined passenger""s privacy and comfort.
Some first class passenger seats include head rests having a concave head rest surface. The outer extensions forming the concavity provide some lateral screening, but may actually impede lateral vision or conversation. In most cases, partition walls, screens and similar physical barriers are impractical because of weight and safety considerations. There remains, therefore, a need for a practical means of permitting passengers to selectively determine the degree of privacy desired, and easily and quickly make adjustments to the seat to achieve the desired degree of privacy.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a aircraft passenger seat which provides a selective degree of visual privacy for an occupant.
It is another object of the invention to provide a aircraft passenger seat which permits a passenger seat occupant to automatically deploy a visual privacy shell as the seat is reclined and retract the privacy shell as the seat is moved to the upright position.
It is another object of the invention to provide an aircraft passenger seat which permits a passenger seat occupant to deploy a visual privacy shell progressively as the seat is reclined and retract the privacy shell progressively as the seat is moved to the upright position.
It is another object of the invention to provide an aircraft passenger seat which provides lateral screening for a passenger as the seat is reclined.
It is another object of the invention to provide an aircraft passenger seat which provides aft screening from an aft-seated passenger when the seat is reclined.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed below by providing a passenger seat with privacy shell, and comprising a seat bottom chassis including a plurality of leg modules and section assembly modules, a plurality of beam elements carrying said leg modules and section assembly modules in spaced-apart relation to each other to define a ladder frame assembly, and a seat back unit, including a headrest, pivotally-mounted between two of the section assembly modules for permitting the angle of the seat back relative to the seat bottom chassis to be varied. A recline unit is provided for controlling movement of the seat back and locking the seat back in a desired recline position. An occupant-activated seat back recline control is provided for permitting movement of the seat back to a desired position between an upright position and a recline position. A privacy shell is positioned on opposing lateral sides of the seat back unit and mounted for movement between a retracted position aft of a passenger support surface of the headrest wherein the shell permits unimpeded lateral vision by the passenger seated in the seat, and a deployed position forward of the passenger support surface of the headrest wherein the shell impedes lateral observation of the passenger seated in the seat, thereby providing privacy when desired by the passenger.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the privacy shell is mounted for movement with the seat back wherein the privacy shell is in the retracted position when the seat back is in its upright position and is in the deployed position when the seat back is in the recline position.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the privacy shell is mounted for progressive movement in coordination with the movement of the seat back.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the seat back is mounted for pivotal movement about a first pivot, and the privacy shell is mounted for pivotal movement about a second pivot non-concentric with the first pivot.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the seat back is mounted for pivotal movement about a first pivot, and the privacy shell is mounted for pivotal movement about a second pivot non-concentric with the first pivot and at a rate of movement different that the rate of movement of the seat back about the first pivot.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the seat back is mounted for pivotal movement about a first pivot, and the privacy shell is mounted for pivotal movement about a second pivot non-concentric with the first pivot and at the same rate of movement as the rate of movement of the seat back about the first pivot.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the seat back and the privacy shell are concentrically mounted for pivotal movement about a first pivot.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the seat back is mounted for pivotal movement about a first pivot at a first rate of movement, and wherein the privacy shell is concentrically mounted for movement about the first pivot at a second rate of movement different from the first rate of movement.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, an occupant-activated privacy shell control is provided for permitting movement of the privacy shell between the retracted and deployed positions independent of the upright or recline position of the seat back.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, load bearing slots are positioned on opposing inner walls of the privacy shell and cooperate with complementary rollers carried by the seat back and mounted in a respective one of said slots for supporting the privacy shell while stationary and during movement.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the privacy shell includes an outer-facing hard shell and an inner-facing upholstered passenger interface surface.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the occupant-activated seat back recline control is interfaced with the privacy shell wherein the seat back and privacy shell are moved in unison coordination between the upright and recline positions.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the privacy shell moves progressively from the retracted position to the deployed privacy position during movement of the seat back from the upright to the recline position.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the privacy shell moves progressively from the retracted position to the deployed privacy position during movement of the seat back from the upright to the recline position, and the seat back is moveable to intermediate positions between the upright and recline position with the privacy shell positioned in a privacy position intermediate the retracted and deployed positions.
An embodiment of the method of permitting a passenger in an aircraft passenger seat to vary the degree of privacy accorded the passenger by the seat according to the invention comprises the steps of providing a seat bottom chassis including a plurality of leg modules and section assembly modules, a plurality of beam elements carrying said leg modules and section assembly modules in spaced-apart relation to each other to define a ladder frame assembly, and a seat back unit, including a headrest, pivotally-mounted between two of the section assembly modules for permitting the angle of the seat back relative to the seat bottom chassis to be varied. A recline unit is provided for controlling movement of the seat back and locking the seat back in a desired recline position, and comprising an occupant-activated seat back recline control for permitting movement of the seat back to a desired position between an upright position and a recline position. A privacy shell is positioned on opposing lateral sides of the seat back unit. The method further includes the steps of moving the privacy shell to a retracted position aft of a passenger support surface of the headrest wherein the shell permits unimpeded lateral vision by the passenger seated in the seat, and moving the privacy shell to a deployed position forward of the passenger support surface of the headrest wherein the shell impedes lateral observation of the passenger seated in the seat, thereby providing privacy when desired by the passenger.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of moving the privacy shell in coordination with the seat back wherein the privacy shell is in the retracted position when the seat back is in its upright position and is in the deployed position when the seat back is in the recline position.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of moving the privacy shell in coordination with the movement of the seat back.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the steps of mounting the seat back for pivotal movement about a first pivot, and mounting the privacy shell for pivotal movement about a second pivot non-concentric with the first pivot.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the steps of mounting the seat back for pivotal movement about a first pivot, and mounting the privacy shell for pivotal movement about a second pivot non-concentric with the first pivot and at a rate of movement different that the rate of movement of the seat back about the first pivot.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the steps of mounting the seat back for pivotal movement about a first pivot, and mounting the privacy shell for pivotal movement about a second pivot non-concentric with the first pivot and at the same rate of movement as the rate of movement of the seat back about the first pivot.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of mounting the seat back and the privacy shell for pivotal movement about a first pivot.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the steps of mounting the seat back for pivotal movement about a first pivot at a first rate of movement, and mounting the privacy shell concentrically for movement about the first pivot at a second rate of movement different from the first rate of movement.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of controlling the movement of the privacy shell between the retracted and deployed positions independent of the upright or recline position of the seat back by means of an occupant-activated control.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of supporting the privacy shell relative to the seat back by load bearing slots positioned on opposing inner walls of the privacy shell and cooperating with complementary rollers carried by the seat back and mounted in a respective one of said slots.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the steps of providing the privacy shell with an outer-facing hard shell and an inner-facing upholstered passenger interface surface.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the steps of interfacing the occupant-activated seat back recline control with the privacy shell wherein the seat back and privacy shell are moved in unison coordination to and between the upright and recline positions.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of moving the privacy shell progressively from the retracted position to the deployed privacy position during movement of the seat back from the upright to the recline position.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the steps of moving the privacy shell progressively from the retracted position to the deployed privacy position during movement of the seat back from the upright to the recline position.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of moving the seat back to intermediate positions between the upright and recline position with the privacy shell positioned in a privacy position intermediate the retracted and deployed positions.